New pictures...

We had some amazing photos taken of Ava for her 5th birthday by my friend Shauna at {Two} Chics Photography! You can click the link below to see all of them. Be sure to pause or stop the music on the right of our blog.

Enjoy!!!

http://video214.com/play/R0e531djfMwnwqH1eblM1g/s/dark

St. George Island 2010

Now this is a vacation that everyone looks forward to every year! St. George Island has nothing but a few stores, restaurants, houses and the most peaceful magnificent beach. The perfect place for being lazy, enjoying God's beautiful Earth, spending time with family and just relaxing. During Ava's fall break from school, we headed down with Mimi, Papa Guy, Chris and Julie to enjoy a week of fun in the sun! The only one missing was daddy. Silly work kept him away, but next year he gets vacation days so we are already counting down the days. We are so blessed to have someone work so hard and make such a huge sacrifice so me and the bugs can have fun and play. Wasn't the same without him though.

We had so much fun and both kids loved the beach and pool. Bennett has hated the pool all summer, but for whatever reason (maybe just a different atmosphere) he was a wild thing at the pool. He loved the water and was a little crazy. We relaxed, ate well, played, read books, went for walks, went kayaking, shopped in Port St. Joe and Apalachicola. It was a much needed getaway for everyone!

You know I took a ton of pictures! I had a hard time narrowing them down, but here are a few of my favorites.

So excited to FINALLY be at the beach!

Day one...included sleeping on Mimi...nothing better than that!

Jumping to Mimi

Flying Ava, courtesy of Uncle Chris.

BB's turn. Uncle Chris feeds our little boys obsession with living on the edge!
Happy Boy & Girl!

What I wouldn't do for curls like that. She is amazingly beautiful in so many ways.

Beautiful Beautiful boy! That's all there is to say here. Wish he would stay like this forever!

Laughing at Mimi and Papa. Sometimes the best pictures are those when they aren't looking at the camera.
Me and my precious babies.
We had to leave B's shoes on...he hated the sand on his feet and wasn't afraid to let everyone know it.

Sliding with Papa.

After some yummy ice cream!

One of my favorite photos ever! Sweet Sweet little boy!

Soaking up some rays like Uncle Chris and Julie.

In Apalachicola before lunch at the Owl Cafe

Wow...those waves were huge and very rough. Scared me to death!

Made it back in one piece, minus some sunglasses :(By the looks of it...you can tell it didn't end so well for dad either!
Pretty little beach girl!

Working hard

Bennett and his Papa Guy!

Wrinkled feet soaking up some sun.

Couldn't resist to tan little booties!

Okay...does anyone else notice that Ava is posing like Captain Morgan in this picture? Huh, maybe she gets it from her Uncle Chris.

Pretty girl and handsome boy...so lucky to be their mommy!

Do you think they love there Mimi and Papa Guy? I think we all know the answer to that question.

And last but not least...my tan cookies on there last night at St. George. Thanks again mom and dad for another amazing trip and for making amazing memories with me and the bugs!

Welcome to the Morrow County Fair!

We decided that we would have a "fair" birthday party for Ava this year. I had seen a party on a blog that was a "Fair Day in May" theme. I loved how she took a simple idea and added homemade touches. So The Morrow County Fair, was a little mix of carnival/vintage fair. I had so much fun planning this party and making all of the fun decorations, food, games & prizes. I think it came together great and most importantly Ava and her friends had tons of fun!

It started with the homemade invitation...

This is the "Welcome to Morrow County Fair" ticket booth.

Each kid received a bag to put their tickets & prizes in. Girls had flower hair clips and boys had giant suckers.Ava had fun welcoming her guests.Her party dress & red cowboy boots. The fabric really inspired the whole thing.Mimi made her a special party hat...number 5 of course! Everyone got to take home Jams & Jellies from Jaemor Farms.

Kid's tables complete with bandana table cloth, hay bales & ribbon wands.

Ava's special birthday chair
We lunched on fried chicken, hot dots, corn on the cob, watermelon & giant dill pickles!Drinks were served out of mason jars.Gigi loved her old fashioned Stewarts cherry cream soda! Time for Games...isn't that what a fair is all about? We made booths out of pvc piped wrapped in red ribbon. The kids could play the goldfish game, duck pond, balloon darts, bean bag toss and have sack races. They received tickets for playing. Before they left, they headed to the prize booth to claim their prizes.As everyone came in they dropped their tickets in the hat. We drew two tickets (one kid prize & one adult prize) for the raffle.

There was also the kissing booth. You had to guess how many hershey kisses were in the jar...226 & Coty won.

Lincoln, Kris, Cora & Ava enjoyed the sack race!Glad Ava isn't competitive Vada and Bennett had fun playing with the ducks & water!
Love this picture of my sweet mama and grandpa. So thankful for my mama, I couldn't have done it without her. She helped cooked, cleaned, sewed, helped me make glycerin gold fish soap, set up, cut out, painted, and took care of my sweet Bennett. She never once judge or looked at me like I was crazy (at least when I could see her face). She put up with my antics and was a tremendous help!Ava loves Uncle Chris so much!

My boys Old friends are the best!Ava and her GigiNot quite sure what happened to his hair...I decided to go true "fair" style with homemade cakes & pies! Gigi made her delicious poundcake which was a huge hit with whip cream and fresh strawberries.Time to sing happy birthday! All ready in her #5 party hat! Hum...trying to figure out how to bite into the caramel apple. Opening presents! Everyone was so generous and Ava loved everything she received. The photo booth was a huge hit and a fun memory! Everyone (adults) included had fun dressing up and posing for the camera. Each child took home a frame, and will get a photo of themselves to remember what fun they at The Morrow County Fair! The fun Durden family.
Uncle Chris is such a good sport!

And last but not least...me and my amazing husband. We'll just end here.